"Chivalry" is a short story by Neil Gaiman.
Mrs. Whitaker, a retiree and a widow, finds the Holy Grail in a secondhand shop where she buys her romance novels. It looks good on her mantelpiece after she cleans it. Of course, a certain knight is coming for the Grail, and asks for it. Mrs. Whitaker refuses, because of how nice it looks.
The story was adapted into a graphic novel by Dark Horse Comics in March of 2022, with art by Colleen Doran.
Tropes for this short story include:
- Black Comedy: Mrs. Whitaker sees a lot of dried blood in the Grail. She soaks the Grail in a cleaning solution and manages to make it shiny clean.
- Cool Old Lady: Mrs. Whitaker is pretty cool. She washes the blood out of the Holy Grail, makes it look nice, and turns down an apple that would have given her eternal youth because that sort of thing is not proper for old ladies.
- Friend to All Children: Galahad gives the children rides on his horse and teaches them how to feed lumps of sugar to his mount.
- Hero Antagonist: A downplayed version of the trope; Galahad wants the Grail, but Mrs. Whitaker likes to keep it on her mantelpiece.
- Nice Girl: Mrs. Whitaker is generous with her time, food, and kindness. She puts slugs in a basket to take outside her garden rather than kill them, treats Galahad with Sacred Hospitality, and takes fruit cakes to a friend in the hospital.
- Nice Guy: Galahad is pure, kind, and honorable.
- Not So Stoic: Mrs. Whitaker, after tasting a drop of the apple that would have given her eternal youth and immortality, holds herself together as she politely turns it down and packs the Grail and some food for Galahad. After he leaves, she needs to cry for a few minutes,
- Politeness Judo: Galahad tries this at first to ask for the Grail. Mrs. Whitaker refuses, but she invites him to come again and makes sure to serve him tea. This inspires Galahad to returns with gifts in exchange for payment.
- Sacred Hospitality: Mrs. Whitaker feeds Galahad, serves him tea, and packs food for the long journey back. Despite the fact that she is denying him the Grail, Galahad is grateful.
- We Are Not Going Through That Again: At the end of the story, Mrs. Whitaker is about to buy a lamp from the secondhand shop, but she decides against it whens she realizes what it is.
